


Give Me Your Heart ('cause i ain't going to break it)

by Lapin



Category: The Magnificent Seven (2016)
Genre: Companion Piece, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-18 02:56:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17572955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lapin/pseuds/Lapin
Summary: It starts with a bet between Vasquez and Faraday.Teddy should have known to never trust either one of them, and Red is quick to back up that thought.





	Give Me Your Heart ('cause i ain't going to break it)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Hazel_Athena](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hazel_Athena/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Near Misses](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17016414) by [Hazel_Athena](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hazel_Athena/pseuds/Hazel_Athena). 



> Do you know, this is actually all nothisnotup's fault. "Look at this movie, March," she said. :You'll really like it," she said.

“This is ridiculous,” Teddy admits, boosting himself up so he sits on top of Red’s work-bench. “Faraday sets me up with guys that look like Vasquez, and Vasquez sets me up with guys that look like Faraday. What am I supposed to do with that?”

He expects Red to laugh, but Red doesn’t look away from the engine he’s got suspended over the muscle car parked in the garage. Teddy figures he’s concentrating on something, so he scrolls through his phone, kicking one leg against the bench.

“Why are you even going along with this?” He doesn’t even give Teddy a chance to answer. “Those two idiots can’t even work out their own shit.” 

That’s true, and Teddy has actual evidence of that now. Maybe he shouldn’t have told Red. He has a bad habit of storing this kind of information away until an opportunity to humiliate Faraday or Vasquez comes up. Teddy doesn’t mind watching from the sidelines, which mostly consists of sitting by Red and laughing, but he feels a little guilty when he actually contributes to the ammunition. 

Besides, the _thing_ between Vasquez and Faraday is really, really weird, and Teddy wants no part in it. 

“It’s not like I’m doing too great on my own,” Teddy points out. “Look at what happened with Alex.” 

Red slams a drawer on his toolbox in response. “Alex was a fucking asshole. I told you that back when you met him.” 

“Yes, you were right, is that what you want to hear?” Teddy asks, irritated now. “Besides, you always think anyone I go out with is an asshole.” Red gives him a look, and Teddy turns his head. He knows what Red wants to say, which is that so far, he’s been right every time, but Teddy doesn’t want to acknowledge it. “Anyway, that just proves my point. I suck at this. So what’s wrong with asking for help?” 

Red doesn’t say anything for a minute, looking at the car instead of Teddy. “I don’t want to fight with you. So we can drop this?” 

Teddy doesn’t see why they have to fight about it at all, but he doesn’t want to either. He’d come over to hang out with Red, and avoid Faraday and Vasquez at the same time. “Any luck, yet?” Red’s been trying to get this stupid car running for the past two years. 

“Found the last of the parts I needed in a busted up one in the junkyard,” Red says, wiping his hands on a rag. “Might be done by the end of the month.” 

“Then what are you going to do with your weekends?” Teddy teases. “Go out? Interact with people other than us?”

“Body work,” Red says, flicking the rag at Teddy. 

“Don’t, that thing is gross!” 

Inside, Teddy orders pizza, remembering to switch the delivery address at the last minute, then settles on the couch, turning on the X-Box and the TV. Red must hear from where he’s washing up, because he says, “Don’t start _Black Mirror_ until I’m out there!” 

“You’re using my account, jerk,” Teddy points out. “And we’re not watching _Black Mirror_ anyway, I’m already depressed.” When Red sits beside him though, he hands over the controller. He’s not in the mood to pick. 

He should have known better. It turns out the new _Star Wars_ movie is on Netflix now, so of course that’s what Red picks. 

“Did we really need a whole movie about Han Solo?” he asks Red. 

“Yes,” Red says, prompting Teddy to kick him. 

It’s not bad, honestly, and this is probably the best Saturday night he’s had in weeks. The date Vasquez had scheduled for him had cancelled this afternoon, and since Vasquez hadn’t really been all that forthcoming about why, Teddy had decided he didn’t want to know. He’d rather be here with Red, anyway. 

The thing is, while Teddy wants to be with someone, he doesn’t really enjoy the process of it. He never knows what to say on first dates, or even second dates. He’s pretty sure the only reason Alex asked him out again was because Teddy had gone home with him on the first date. Not exactly his proudest moment. 

It would be easier if things could just skip to this part of the relationship. 

Not that he’s dating Red. 

Back when they met, Teddy had barely managed to get out a full sentence around Red for almost two weeks, some part of his brain refusing to accept that any man could actually be that good-looking in real life. Eventually though, he remembered he was a grown man and not a twelve-year-old, and him and Red had settled into an easy friendship. It’s not like he doesn’t still notice, on occasion, but it’s not a big deal to him anymore. 

Red lets him pick the next movie, Teddy scrolling through until he lands on _Coraline_. He fully expects the smack in the shin he gets, but he clicks on it anyway.

“The button-eye thing is fucking creepy,” Red mutters. “This kid is dumb.”

“Shut up.”

“I’m fucking serious. What kid with a brain sees a woman with button-eyes, and is just like, yeah, this is fine?” Teddy kicks him again to get him to be quiet, but Red just grabs his foot, holding it in place. “If this was a slasher movie, she’d be the dumbass that decides to go into the abandoned gas station and gets offed in the first ten minutes.” 

Teddy struggles, but Red’s got a good grip on him. “You know what, you don’t get to talk, because Goody told me that story about the time you, Vasquez, and Faraday broke into that old video store when you were drunk, and he had to come bail you all out.” 

“Quit taking everything he says as gospel. Goody makes shit up all the time.”

“So you’re saying it didn’t happen?” He gets his answer when Red just settles back on the couch, letting go of Teddy’s ankle at least. “What were you three even thinking?” 

“We were drunk,” he says. “Besides, I’d have lived. Vasquez dies first in that kind of movie. He’s the nicest. Faraday dies trying to avenge Vasquez. As a Comanche, I end up in a one-on-one showdown with the monster, and my spirit animal saves me.” 

He says it completely straight-faced until the end, and Teddy laughs, kicking him again. “You don’t even believe in any of that.” Teddy isn’t even sure that’s from Red’s tribe, when it comes down to it. 

“Exactly. The entire experience allows me to reconnect with my spirituality. I lost my faith due to some badly-referenced event prior to the movie.” He holds up his right arm, and points at one of his tattoos, the tribal-style wolf done in stark black. “It’ll be this one.”

“I happen to know you got that tattoo on a dare, not from any kind of spiritual awakening,” Teddy points out. Billy has a similar one, from the same dare. It was from before Teddy knew any of them, and no one’s ever been able to explain the situation in a way that makes any kind of sense. “What about me, when do I die?” 

Red puts a hand on Teddy’s knee. “You don’t. You just get hurt. I beat the monster, get you out.” 

“Aw, you save me, but not Faraday or Vasquez?”

“Yeah,” Red says, shrugging, and shifting himself so Teddy’s foot is trapped under Red’s thigh. 

He’s over how good-looking Red is, that’s true, but even Teddy’s not delusional enough to think he’s over Red as a whole. He’s fine with being friends, loves being friends with Red, actually. But he knows he’s into Red, maybe a little too into him for Teddy’s own good in the end. It’s a little pathetic, but honestly, after this whole mess with Vasquez and Faraday, Teddy feels pretty well-adjusted by comparison. So he has a thing for his friend, so what? 

His phone buzzes on the coffee table, and when he grabs at it, he sees it’s from Vasquez, trying to reschedule the date with Jackson. He declines, honestly not in the mood for another Faraday clone trying to talk him into a blowjob in the car.

But in the here and now, he is pretty sleepy, and Red looks like he is too. Tired, he nudges Red. “Bedtime?” Teddy asks, and Red nods, shutting off the X-Box and the TV. 

“You staying over?” 

Teddy shrugs. “You mind?” Red shakes his head, and Teddy ends up settled on the couch, like he usually does after these too-late nights. He thinks he might be getting old, if he’s too tired to drive home after eleven pm. Either way, he’s asleep before he knows it. 

He wakes up before Red, so he goes to the bathroom, stealing Red’s mouthwash to get the taste of sleep out of his mouth, before heading into the kitchen to start the coffee. In the fridge, he finds the eggs and butter, and gets the bread out of the cabinet. He checks the fridge again, deciding it won’t hurt him to make bacon for Red, but to his surprise, there’s actually chicken-bacon in the drawer. 

Red wanders in while Teddy is frying it, wearing a shirt, thankfully. He might not be twelve, and they might be friends, but Teddy’s only human. “Did you finally realize bacon is bad for you?” he asks Red. 

“I still like bacon,” Red replies. “But you’re over here a lot. I’m not eating that turkey bacon shit, but this stuff isn’t too different.” He hitches his chin at the butter on the counter. “You know, I looked that up. Butter isn’t always kosher.” 

“I don’t keep kosher,” Teddy refutes, trying not to be touched that Red stopped buying regular bacon because of him. “Not really. But I didn’t grow up eating pork, so it makes me sick. And it just...feels wrong.” He nudges Red. “And anyway, it’s bad for you.” 

“So are eggs,” Red says. 

“Eggs are not bad for you, those studies get taken out of context, and you know it. You sat through that stupid documentary Emma and Goody made us watch, too.” Goody and Emma are both suckers for a good documentary, when it’s their turn to pick something. 

“I fell asleep.”

“Yeah, I remember,” Teddy says dryly. “You chose to do it on me, and since you weigh a ton, I was stuck there too.” Red had fallen asleep on Teddy’s shoulder, and had ended up in his lap when Teddy tried to minimize the crick in his own neck by putting a pillow in his lap and easing Red down. “You sleep like the dead, did you know that?” 

“Maybe you’re just really comfortable.” 

“Jerk.” 

They eat, Teddy scrolling through some sites, showing Red whatever he finds funny, and after they both get washed up, Teddy borrowing a clean tee from Red, they walk down to the farmers market that sets up every weekend. 

There’s a stand claiming to sell ‘genuine Native American jewellery’ that Red has a lot to say about in Teddy’s ear, Teddy forced to elbow him when he finally gets Teddy to laugh out loud over some ‘protective amulets’. The person working the stall, a white guy with dreadlocks, glares at them, so Teddy tugs Red out of the place. 

“You’re such a jackass,” he tells Red, trying to stop laughing. 

“If he’s going to appropriate my culture, he could at least try and get it right,” Red says. 

Teddy smacks him in the arm. “You were making jokes about ‘spirit animals’, last night.”

“I’m allowed to make those jokes.” He nods at a food truck. “Dare you to drink jalapeno lemonade.” 

“You’re buying it,” Teddy conditions. 

“I’m always buying,” Red says, frowning.

“And when it’s my stupid idea, I’ll pay.” He grabs Red by the arm and pulls him towards the truck, Red following along. 

It ends up about as gross as Teddy expects, but Red buys him another drink to get the taste out of his mouth, so Teddy forgives him. They wander around, Red buying some produce while Teddy watches. He likes the farmer’s market over the grocery store, true, but he doesn’t like their prices. 

“Do you think I should say something to Faraday or Vasquez?” Teddy asks, while Red puts a carton of blueberries in the bag. “About this whole… _thing_?” 

“I think you should stop all this shit altogether,” Red says. “Unless you want to date a Faraday clone?” It’s got a bit more bite to it than necessary, and Teddy glares at him. Red catches it, and looks away. “What, so you do have a thing for Faraday?” 

He says it like an insult, and it sounds like Teddy is the target. “Why would you even ask me that?”

“‘Jackass’ is kind of your type,” Red mutters, moving along, saying it just loud enough Teddy hears it. 

“Well, I choose to hang out with you, so I guess I can’t deny it,” Teddy says, snapping more than he meant to. He regrets it immediately when Red makes a hurt face, so he catches up to him, leaning against Red a bit. “I didn’t mean it like that. I mean, you _are_ a jackass, but you’re my favorite one.” Probably more than he should be, but it’s not important. 

What is important is that it gets Red to nudge Teddy back and say, “Let’s find the malasada truck.” 

“We just ate,” Teddy reminds him, but goes along anyway. 

He doesn’t bring it up again, but he does think about it more after he gets home. It’s not helping when Faraday sends him an update on his next selection. Teddy groans and puts his phone on the bedside table when he gets a look at the guy, rolling over and facing the other way. Another guy who could be Vasquez’s brother, and this one even has his job listed as ‘graphic designer’. 

How does he even bring this up without looking stupid? Faraday and Vasquez already have a tendency to talk over Teddy over stupid things, he can’t expect them to listen when he has something that might be important to say. More than that, this is _embarrassing_ , poking way more into their private lives than he ever wants to. 

Maybe he really should just show Red the pictures, and let him do it. Red already doesn’t like the whole thing, and he’d probably have fun with it. 

But with how pissed off he’s been, he would probably take it too far, and not help anything in the end. Red might enjoy starting shit, but it makes Teddy’s stomach hurt just thinking about the fighting that might start. Especially if Billy gets involved. Him and Red have a lot in common when it comes to this kind of thing. 

He’s doing some cleaning the next day when Emma texts him and asks if she can come over. She doesn’t usually ask, which makes Teddy suspicious, but he still gives her the okay. 

She lets herself in, and the first thing she says to him is, “You’re going to tell me what’s going on, and you’re going to do it now, Teddy, or so help me, I will _make_ you.” 

Usually, him and Emma are on the same page, and he doesn’t need clarification to know what she’s on about. But this time, he’s not even sure they’re in the same book, so he has to put down the Windex, and actually ask, “What are you talking about?”

Instead of answering, she asks, “Isn’t that Red’s shirt?” 

“Yes?” It’s one of Red’s old Matco Tools’ tees that Teddy had accidentally stolen, worn out enough Teddy doesn’t need to worry about messing it up when he’s cleaning. “Was that your point?”

“We’re tabling that,” she says, holding up a hand. “No, my actual reason for being here is because even Tweedledum and Tweedledee are running out of ideas for you.” She sits on the couch, bracing her feet against the coffee table. “Wasn’t the last one an EMT? Even I thought that would be right up your alley.” 

Teddy rolls his eyes. “Emma, I don’t know how many times I have to tell you all this, but just because someone vaguely works in the same field as me, doesn’t mean we have anything in common. An EMT deals with the immediate problem. I deal with the aftereffects up here.” He taps his head. “I’m a therapist. For _teenagers_. And it’s not like work-talk is an option for me. I’m not even _allowed_ to talk about work, which you should know.” Most of Teddy’s cases are court-appointed, in fact. 

“Well, you know...sharing the joy and job satisfaction of.helping people?” She waves a hand. “No?”

“No,” he says, hoping she picks up his tone of _drop it_. “I mean...he was nice. But he wasn’t my type.”

“What about the guy before? Brian? He sounded fun.” 

“Not my kind of fun.” Brian and Faraday could have been separated at birth, and no matter what Red thinks, Teddy would rather be celibate for the rest of his life than be with Faraday. He’s pretty sure Faraday feels the same way, at least. “Emma, none of them were bad guys, not necessarily, but they weren’t right for me.” He doesn’t know how to explain it, how none of them had sparked even the slightest interest. “I don’t think I want to do this at all, anymore. Red thinks I’m an idiot for trusting them, and he’s probably right.” 

Emma is giving him a weird look. “Teddy...I really don’t want to pry...but…” Whatever she wants to ask, or not-ask, though, she shakes her head instead. “Never mind. So what’s wrong with these guys they’re picking out for you? Because until you tell them, they’re not going to get any better at it.” 

“I just…hold on.” He grabs his phone off the bar, and sits on the couch beside her, bringing up the messages. “I mean...look at this!”

“Look at what? These guys are cute.” She keeps sliding the images though, and he sees the exact second she works it out. “Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me.” She turns and looks up at him. “Are you serious?”

“I mean, at first, I just thought it was a coincidence, but it’s not!” 

“This is a special level of pathetic,” Emma says. “Even for them. They’re setting you up with each other. They’re seriously setting you up with each other.” She holds up a hand, eyes closed. “Just when I think those two have hit rock-bottom when it comes to stupidity, they dig down another level.” She keeps messing with Teddy’s phone, looking through his other folders. “Why haven’t you said anything?” 

Teddy groans, pulling his legs up so he’s sitting cross-legged on the couch and can hide his face in his hands. “It feels really invasive.”

“Oh, my god, you are a _therapist_ ,” she scolds. “Talking to people is literally your job.”

“To teenagers! Not grown men who have so many issues I can’t even think about it without risking an ulcer!” He thinks this is what having a nervous breakdown might feel like, now that Emma is actually confronting him with the issue. When he had been talking to Red about it, it was something to laugh at, but now it’s genuinely frustrating. “And they never take me seriously, anyway, so what do I even say?”

Emma smacks him, harder than he thinks is necessary. “You testify in court on a regular basis on child abuse and custody cases, but you can’t just tell Heckle and Jeckle they’re probably in love with each other?” 

That’s a good point, but there’s a distinct difference in how confident Teddy feels in a professional setting, versus a social one. When he’s in court, or otherwise being asked his opinion when it comes to work, he’s respected and taken seriously. Socially, he knows he’s the omega of the group, so to speak, especially to people like Vasquez and Faraday. Teddy doesn’t usually mind.

Really, he’s been lucky. Emma was pretty much his only friend, followed by Matthew, for a long time there. He likes their group, and he’s been especially lucky to meet Red. He loves Emma, but there’s an easiness with Red he wouldn’t give up for anything. 

Maybe this has all been pissing Red off so much because it means Teddy isn’t around. He knows Red feels closer to him than the rest of their group. If Red was seeing someone, and couldn’t hang around Teddy as much, Teddy would miss him.

Probably be a little heartbroken too, but that’s not something he has the emotional capacity to think about, not when he’s being forced to finally confront this whole Vasquez and Faraday thing. Because while Red might not give a fuck, Emma definitely does, and she’s not dropping this. 

“You cannot let this go on, Teddy,” she says. “You have to tell them.” He looks at her, and she glares, before she says, “Oh, no, no, no, no, the puppy eyes are not going to work on me, we are past that stage in this friendship -!” 

Which they are not, because while Emma reams him out the whole way to the cafe on the chosen day, she handles most of the confrontation until Teddy finally loses his temper on both of them. And honestly, it feels good to finally confront them both about _anything_ , and have them listen to him, for once. The looks on their faces is well worth it. 

But once they’re outside the cafe, the other two taking off, hopefully to get their shit together, he starts doubting himself. He messes with his hair, pulling it back in a ponytail. “Was that too much?” he asks Emma.

She shakes her head, looking somewhat impressed with him actually. “Honestly, it’s really weird seeing Angry-In-A-Courtroom Teddy in a social setting. I’ve missed that side of you. You remember the first time you had to testify and you asked me to sit in?” He does. He’d been nervous about offering his analysis, but when it came down to it, he’d been more concerned about the fifteen-year-old girl he’d been representing. He still remembers her name, _Rashida_ , and how scared she had been of speaking against the deacon of her church that had hurt her. He’d asked Emma to sit in so he at least knew he had one ally in the room.

In the end, his own anger had been enough to carry him through the cross-examination, but he’d needed Emma to reassure him after that he hadn’t come across as ridiculous. 

“You never need me anymore,” she laments, play-punching him in the arm. “This was actually kind of nice. A walk down memory lane.” 

He shrugs, not wanting her to get the wrong idea. “Well, that’s because Red usually comes, if it’s a bad case.” 

“What? Seriously?” 

It’s not like Teddy’s ashamed of needing help getting through those cases. Sometimes he has to hear things from kids that no one should ever have to hear. “When I have a bad case, Red usually comes to sit in, when he can.” And it helps, honestly. Even when Teddy has to testify about some truly terrible things, he gets through it knowing Red is right there, and ready to buy him lunch or dinner after, talking to Teddy about anything and everything outside of the case, until he can regain his own faith in humanity. 

“I didn’t know he was doing that,” Emma says, crossing her arms. “That’s really considerate of him. Especially because it’s him.” 

Teddy doesn’t like that. “Red is always considerate about stuff like that. He’s my friend, and yours too” Teddy reminds her. She shrugs, but he knows her well enough to see that she takes the point. “Don’t you have to get to Matthew?”

“Yeah.” She turns, like she’s going to walk away, but then she turns back. “Teddy, you know you can tell me anything, right?”

It’s asked in a weirdly serious tone that Teddy doesn’t get. “Yes? Why?” he hazards. 

“Just...something Matthew said. Never mind. I’ll see you later, alright?” Teddy can’t think of anything Matthew might have said that has Emma being so strange, but she turns and leaves, heading to her car, so Teddy does the same.

He’s mostly busy getting caught up on some cases that are being pushed his way over the next few days, and holding the initial meetings with the kids. One kid, a sixteen-year-old girl, he’s forced to pass on. He knows five minutes into the session that she’s not comfortable talking to a man, and he’ll be more hindrance than help for her. 

Work means he forgets that while Vasquez and Faraday seem to be more wrapped up in each other than bothering with Teddy’s social life, Faraday _had_ managed to set up one last date for him. 

The guy, Will, texts him on Thursday though, reminding him. He wants to know if Teddy wants to meet at the aquarium. _Place is really fun_ , he texts Teddy.

But Teddy already knows that. Red and him go to the aquarium whenever they’re having an event, usually the ‘Jelly Day’, because it involved free jelly donuts, and Red and him making up conversations for the fish. They’re at the point they even have their personal favorites in the tanks. 

“ _Maybe some other time_ ,” he texts Will back. It’s nicely generic, and a clear dismissal all in one. 

Teddy texts Red instead the next day, but doesn’t get a reply. When he pulls up, he finds what he expected; Red hitting the heavy bag he has hanging beside the Camaro. He comes in and sits on the bench, scrolling through his phone and answering some texts from the office manager, waiting until Red is ready to acknowledge him. 

It doesn’t take long, Red stepping back from the bag. Teddy holds out the water bottle for him, not really looking up from his phone. 

“Thought you had a date,” Red says, wiping his mouth off. 

“He’s a graphic designer. What exactly were we going to talk about?” He means it, but besides that, he’s noticed all these guys Faraday has set him up with have a tendency to get a little too interested in Teddy’s own work. It must be something about artists, because Vasquez had been the same way before he finally noticed that he was making Teddy uncomfortable. “Rather hang out with you anyway. There’s been a lot of new cases this week.” 

“Bad ones?” he asks, leaning against the bench. 

“No, nothing like that,” Teddy tells him. “There was this one though, I had to recommend them to someone else. I always feel bad about that.” 

Red grabs his knee, squeezing. “You told me yourself, you have to find the right fit for them.” He doesn’t let go of Teddy. “The others?”

“Nothing that makes you want to burn it all down,” Teddy says, sliding off the bench. “But I really don’t want to think about it.” 

“Okay,” Red says. “What do want to order?” 

“Thai?” It’s not Red’s favorite, but Teddy’s not above exploiting Red feeling a little sorry for him. 

And he knows Red knows Teddy’s game, because he huffs before he asks, “You want that mango-rice thing?” 

“I know you know what it’s called,” Teddy scolds, but follows Red into the house. While Red calls in the order, Teddy puts two beers in the freezer. Red takes a quick shower, and Teddy settles on the couch, scrolling through Netflix. 

By the time Red gets out, Teddy is halfway through an episode of _Parks & Recreation_, and sees Red smirk when he realizes which episode it is. 

“I don’t know why you like this one so much,” Teddy muses aloud. 

“She was drunk and trying to get leverage. She knew she was wrong and apologized to him for disrespecting him and their friendship. It’s a good lesson,” Red replies. Then he looks over, grinning at Teddy. “And I like watching him troll that white asshole.” 

Teddy kicks him. “That’s because _you’re_ a fucking troll.” 

“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” Red says, pulling Teddy’s feet under his thigh, his arm resting on Teddy’s knees. 

“Don’t forget that I caught you pretending you didn’t speak English to that jerk at the garage,” Teddy says, leaning over so he can smack Red in the shoulder. 

“Not my fault he thought every brown person must be Hispanic,” Red replies. 

That’s a fair point, but Teddy doesn’t take it back, or carry on, mostly because the delivery driver knocks on the door. Red looks at Teddy, but Teddy doesn’t budge. “You’ve got my feet trapped.” 

“Self-defense.” Still, Red gets up to answer it, and Teddy grabs the beers. 

Eventually, Red ends up choosing an actual movie, _True Grit_. “Love this kid,” he says. “Little psychopath.” 

“For the millionth time, she is not displaying psychopathic behaviors,” Teddy grouses. He knows he’s fighting a useless battle, but he can’t help it. “She’s not processing her grief, and instead redirecting her energy towards what she sees as justice. You see it happen in a lot of people when they experience a loss and they’re not ready to process it. One time I had a patient who fixated so seriously on her grades after her mother died, her hair was falling out from the stress. It’s a matter of control. You can’t control things like loss or trauma, so your mind finds something it can.” 

Red pats his knee. “Feel better?” 

“No,” Teddy’s feet are trapped again, so he can’t kick him. “I do like this version better. It actually acknowledges that the trauma impacted her whole life. You don’t see that in the Old Westerns. Everything gets a happy ending.” 

“Maybe the Coen brothers will acknowledge non-white people in the West, one day,” Red says, which, well, fair. 

However, Teddy does feel the need to ask, “Do you really want to see how they’d depict Native Americans?” 

It gets him a look that has Teddy laughing, even more when Red flatly says, “No.”

He can’t help himself, and asks, “Want to watch _The Lone Ranger_ next?” 

“No one will find your body.” 

“You won’t kill me, you like me too much.” He shrugs, and speculates, “Or, I mean you could start spending more time with Faraday and Vasquez, break into some more buildings -”

“Shut up.” 

The Bear Man shows up on screen, and Teddy frowns, finally putting something together. “It’s Jack,” he says, to Red. They’ve talked about this a few times, trying to figure out who the man reminds them of. 

“Shit. It is Jack.” Jack, one of Red’s bosses, is giant of a man, who has always put Teddy in mind of some weird cross between a bear and Santa Claus. “I’m telling him on Monday.” Red is entirely too gleeful about that, but Teddy’s feet are still trapped, so he can’t do anything about it. 

In any case, Teddy’s phone is lighting up on the coffee table. It’s nine on a Friday night, and since he can’t think of anyone who would need him socially at this hour, he grabs it, worried something’s gone wrong on a case. It’s rare he gets called for that kind of thing, but it’s usually CPS or the police, and it’s always serious. 

But it’s just a text from Will, which kind of annoys Teddy. _In your neck of the woods. Interested in grabbing some dessert?_

“You need to go?” Red asks, pausing the movie. 

“No,” Teddy reassures him. “It’s the guy I was supposed to go out with. He’s in my neighborhood, wants to know if I want to meet up now for dessert.” 

Red huffs something Teddy doesn’t catch, then says, “He wants to know if you’re up for sex.” 

“Probably,” Teddy agrees, texting Will that he’s not actually at his apartment. Apparently his earlier dismissal had not been taken to heart. “I give up. I’m going to be alone the rest of my life.” 

“You’ve got me,” Red says. 

“Eventually, even you’ll find someone you actually want to date,” Teddy says, even though thinking about that very real future hurts, a lot more than it should. “I will be the lonely spinster in our group, doomed to be the designated house-sitter when you all take ten-year anniversary vacations to the Bahamas.” He’s joking, even if it is probably true. 

But Red doesn’t say anything for a long minute, and when he does, it’s a weirdly cryptic, “I’m not.”

“Not going to what?”

Again, Red is quiet, but not in his usual way. It feels heavier, and Teddy pulls his feet away so he can sit cross-legged on the couch, closer to Red. Red puts a hand on Teddy’s knee, but pulls back after only a second. “Do you want to go out?”

“Now? Why?”

“No, I mean…” It’s rare that Red can’t just say something, and Teddy doesn’t understand what’s going on. “Dinner. Or something. We go somewhere that isn’t here. I pay.” He puts his elbows on his knees, leaning forward and not looking at Teddy. “A date.” 

Teddy swallows, then asks, “Is this a joke?”

“No,” Red answers, shaking his head. 

“Is this because you feel sorry for me?” He can’t stand the idea of Red offering him a pity-date. He’d rather die alone. 

“ _No_ ,” Red says forcefully. “This isn’t…” He stands up, running his hand over his scalp. “This isn’t new. Not for me. I just didn’t want to fuck us up by pushing, but I can’t do this anymore, you going out with these dumbasses who don’t treat you right, and jackass is your type, and I know I’m a jackass, but I’d treat you right, and -” He sits back down on the couch, Teddy staring at him, slowly working his way through what Red is saying. What he’s pretty sure Red is saying. 

“Is this why you’ve been such an asshole about this whole thing?” Teddy asks, trying to catch up.

“Yeah.” Red takes a swig of his beer. “Sorry.”

“Okay.” And then Teddy does what he’s wanted to do since two months into being friends with Red, which is climbing into his lap and kissing him. 

Red kisses him back, his hands falling down from Teddy’s waist to his ass, but when Teddy grinds down against him, Red says, “I wanted to take you out before anything else.”

“You paid for dinner,” Teddy reminds him.

“Not going to argue with that logic.”

It’s a few hours later, Teddy falling asleep in Red’s bed instead of on the couch, with Red wrapped around him, that he asks, “So if this wasn’t new, what made you finally say something?”

Red kisses Teddy’s neck. “Matthew.”

That reminds Teddy of Emma’s line of questioning. “What does Matthew have to do with any of this?”

“Matthew told me to either grow a pair and ask you out, or get over it,” Red says. “Still taking you out on a real date.”

“Dinner and a movie?” Teddy teases, loving how Red pulls him closer. 

“Yeah. Fancy dinner and a movie.” He kisses Teddy, and there’s just a second, just one, he can’t believe this is real. “I’ll buy your Sno-Caps.”


End file.
